Do i have a case?

coolsteel

I was left stranded at an airport on a rail strike day at 19.30 in the evening. No means of getting home that day so i booked a taxi and a hotel. Northern Rail are refusing to reimburse me stating and i quote.

Thank you for contacting Northern.
I am writing in response to correspondence received 2nd February regarding your consequential loss claim.
Unfortunately I am going to have to decline your request for compensation on this occasion.

The Consumer Rights Act (CRA) provides obligations on Train Operating Companies (TOC’s) to provide a service with reasonable care and skill. Where a TOC fails in these obligations, you may be entitled to compensation. There are some things that may cause a delay to your journey that are outside of the train company’s control. Examples of this include:

• • Acts or threats of vandalism or terrorism
  • Suicides or accidents involving trespassers
  • Gas leaks or fires in lineside buildings not caused by a train company
  • Line closures at the request of the police or emergency services
  • Exceptionally severe weather conditions
  • Industrial action
  • Riots or civil commotion
  • Fire, mechanical or electrical failure or a defect (except where caused by a train company or its trains’ defects) including signalling or infrastructure faults
  • The striking of a bridge by a vehicle

It is unlikely that you will be able to make a successful claim if the issue which caused your detail was not a failure on the train company's part to provide the service with reasonable care and skill.
 
Based on the information we have received, I am unable to reimburse you for your hotel room and taxi fare on this occasion, with the reasoning being that the cancelled services were the result on Industrial Action.
Should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

me, Hi i believe i have a valid claim as my tickets were bought well in advance of any notice of strike action and there was not a lot I could do arriving back from holiday stuck at Manchester Airport. could you provide me with a deadlock letter highlighting why i am not entitled to compensation so i can escalate this to the rail ombudsman.

Unfortunately, the service you had intended to travel on was not cancelled, it was removed from the timetable due to Industrial Action prior to the Registered Timetable of the Day being published. Therefore it was never scheduled to run as an intended service. 
This would mean you are not entitled to any compensation in regards to your hotel, taxi fares and rail tickets.
My apologies for this information.

I must re-iterate that information about the strikes was made available on our website, through social media channels, through posters, information boards and announcements at our stations and widely reported in both local and national news. Unfortunately as the information was made available well in advance of the the strikes, their disruption, and the do not travel warning we issued, we would not provide compensation for additional costs incurred on the day.

If you are not satisfied with the way we have answered your complaint you have the right to take your complaint to the Rail Ombudsman. The Rail Ombudsman service is independent and free. If you contact them please make sure that you tell them that you have this letter, known as a Deadlock Letter, to show that you have completed the complaints process with us.

The Ombudsman will investigate your complaint and make a decision based on the information given to them. If you agree with the Ombudsman’s decision we have to do what they say. This could be making an apology, explaining what went wrong, correcting the problem, or giving you a financial award.

If your complaint is about the way our service has been designed, rail industry policy, or if your complaint relates to an event that took place before the Rail Ombudsman service was established, the Ombudsman will review it and then put it in the hands of Transport Focus who may progress it on your behalf. This organisation is a passenger watchdog that works with the rail industry, government and others.

Is it worth pursuing or are they right?

p00hsticks

coolsteel said:

This would mean you are not entitled to any compensation in regards to your hotel, taxi fares and rail tickets.

I'm not sure about the mention of rail tickets here - did you get claim for a refund of the tickets or did you simply use them the next day ? 

coolsteel said:

Is it worth pursuing or are they right?

What do you have to lose by pursuing it ?

However, I'm not convinced you'll be successful.

FYI, here are some past rail ombudsman case study cases regarding industrial action

https://www.railombudsman.org/travel-during-industrial-action/

coolsteel

Hi i put a block claim in for rail tickets taxi and hotel, i was unaware i could use the tickets the next day so i bought new ones.
I have decided to make a claim through the rail ombudsman. I was just wondering if anybody else had been successful with a case like mine.
Regards

jon81uk

You should be able to get the cost of your original train tickets back.

goater78

You’ve got no chance of them paying for your hotel or taxi. The strikes were announced three weeks in advance and as northern say the trains weren’t cancelled. They were removed from the timetable. 

The rail ombudsman won’t support you in this. 

coolsteel

Ombudsman not interested, they don't deal with strike issues. Oh well will try and get ticket refund.

coolsteel

goater78 said:

You’ve got no chance of them paying for your hotel or taxi. The strikes were announced three weeks in advance and as northern say the trains weren’t cancelled. They were removed from the timetable. 

The rail ombudsman won’t support you in this. 

I had booked rail tickets to the airport and a hotel in Manchester overnight BEFORE any strike action was announced so was kinda stuck. strike action was announced 17th Jan and my outbound flight was 24th of Jan,

p00hsticks

coolsteel said:

goater78 said:

You’ve got no chance of them paying for your hotel or taxi. The strikes were announced three weeks in advance and as northern say the trains weren’t cancelled. They were removed from the timetable. 

The rail ombudsman won’t support you in this. 

I had booked rail tickets to the airport and a hotel in Manchester overnight BEFORE any strike action was announced so was kinda stuck. strike action was announced 17th Jan and my outbound flight was 24th of Jan,

Now I'm confused - your initial post indicated that you had had to book a hotel after finding yourself stranded due to strike action. Now you seem to be suggesting that you couldn't get to a previously booked hotel because of the strike action ? Or are we talking about two different hotel bookings here ?

(either way I donlt think you'll get any compensation, jsut a refund of the unused rail tickets)

goater78

coolsteel said:

goater78 said:

You’ve got no chance of them paying for your hotel or taxi. The strikes were announced three weeks in advance and as northern say the trains weren’t cancelled. They were removed from the timetable. 

The rail ombudsman won’t support you in this. 

I had booked rail tickets to the airport and a hotel in Manchester overnight BEFORE any strike action was announced so was kinda stuck. strike action was announced 17th Jan and my outbound flight was 24th of Jan,

Yes would have been announced three weeks beforehand and you has 7 days before you flew out to come up with alternative plans so I think saying you were “stranded” is being overly dramatic.  7:30pm is not very late and there are lots of buses from the airport which can get you into manchester(they run all through the night). From manchester you can get a coach anywhere. Think you probably has other options than taxi and hotel. 

Either way they’re not going to give you compensation for this (apart from a ticket refund).